New BOM Process for Improved Preproduction Processes

at Tadano Group

As part of an optimization project, Tadano was able to attain two targets simultaneously and succeeded in making preproduction processes considerably more efficient. Strategic improvements can now be implemented consistently during the product creation process and in product lifecycle management. Flexible and efficient approaches to product development and manufacturing were achieved by separating the BOMs of two company units, enabling separate optimization of sub-processes.

About the customer

Tadano Group

Tadano Group operates 11 plants worldwide and maintains a global network of more than 50 branch offices and distribution agencies. The Japanese company employs more than 4,200 people. Tadano in Europe acts as Tadano Group’s center of excellence for the development and production of Tadano cranes, including all-terrain, city, caterpillar and truck-mounted cranes.

To the customer website

Business challenge

Process efficiency

Following a company acquisition, Tadano needed to improve data and process harmonization in product creation.

Market position

Tadano intends to improve the effectiveness of target attainment in development and production.

Customer goals

Evolution of the BOM process

Joint BOMs for development and production causes coordination problems and redundancies
The client wishes to introduce separate BOMs – an engineering BOM and a manufacturing BOM – for independent introduction and management by each team according to its own requirements.

Separate optimization of PLM sub-processes

The client wants to be able to optimize production and design sub-processes independently of each other
Improved process flows in engineering and production are expected to boost process efficiency
The client wishes to reduce process costs throughout the business.

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Optimizing Production Preparation

Previously, Tadano’s engineering and manufacturing divisions at the company’s plants in Germany managed all relevant data and information via a single BOM. However, this single-BOM approach no longer satisfied the company’s product creation requirements because the two divisions expected very different things from the BOM: While engineering needed a complex functional description, the production BOM was supposed to contain information which by its structure, content and type would provide optimal support for manufacturing workflows.

Example: A component with two different types of paintwork represents two configurations from a manufacturing point of view, but just one when seen from the perspective of the CAD authoring program.

As part of a “One ERP” project, Tadano wished to separate these two perspectives and have the two divisions work with two independent BOMs in future: an engineering bill of material (EBOM) for engineering processes and a manufacturing bill of material (MBOM) after handover to production.

Tadano believed that this separation would improve collaboration between its engineering and production units and entrusted CENIT subsidiary Coristo with the project. The company specializes in process and IT consulting in the SAP product lifecycle management sphere.

Coristo developed a concept and provided implementation support during the initial data migration, which required consolidating the MBOMs within the target system. The project foresaw that in future, ongoing synchronization between MBOM and EBOM and the handover to manufacturing would be performed by the software application SAP GSS.

Coristo supported Tadano’s BOM process via a series of use cases including bulk changes, corresponding requests as well as scenarios for split positions and the respective conflict resolution. To this end, solution concepts were developed, tested and implemented together with the client. The decisive factor for project success proved to be intensive user training on the concept of separate BOMS and the use of SAP GSS in line with the defined use cases and approaches.

Today, Tadano successfully manages its handover-to-manufacturing process via SAP GSS. Management of the manufacturing BOMs, which previously fell within the remit of the engineering division, is now the responsibility of the production planning unit. To attain this goal, Tadano had been sure to involve all affected units in the project from the very beginning.

Detailed project description Download

In a nutshell:

Initial EBOM-MBOM separation: Consolidation of MBOMs and concept for migration to EBOMs; mapping layout for SAP GSS
Implementation of SAP GSS application for ongoing process of structure synchronization
Customization in accordance with client requirements

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Results and conclusion

Better Results

Within the wider product creation process, the separation of BOMs lets individual units independently optimize their contribution to overall company performance

Higher Output Quality

Users at all Tadano locations in Germany work with the same SAP system and benefit from consistent workflows throughout the product creation process.

Organizational Change

PLM processes and task assignment were successfully readjusted.

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